


floor nineteen

by sheriffandsteel



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Meet-Cute, Modern Westeros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:29:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26323423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheriffandsteel/pseuds/sheriffandsteel
Summary: As a window washer Gendry was used to people looking right through him. He never expected any of the people behind the glass to actually notice him, let alone interact with him. Especially not someone like her.
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Comments: 56
Kudos: 243





	floor nineteen

**Author's Note:**

> I meant to post this during AryaxGendry week for day 6 'secret talents' but then I forgot so its been dying in my drafts for a month. Oops.

The sun glinting off the window panes was bright enough to blind him. 

Gendry shoved his sunglasses higher up his nose as he readjusted his grip on his squeegee. He just had to finish this side of the building and then he got to go home for the day. The building was over forty stories high and he was working his way down so it was still going to be a few hours before he was done. 

He hated this time of year because the sun was already starting to set and it would reflect off the building side the whole time Gendry was cleaning it. He’d have to remember to start with this side of the building when he returned in two weeks. Knowing him he’d probably forget and have to deal with it again next time. 

Gendry allowed himself to be lulled by the monotony of his work, the severe height no longer even registering to him anymore. Sometimes he looked past the glass he was cleaning to watch the people working inside the offices curiously. He’d used to dream of having an office job when he was younger, a job with stability and benefits and all those things his mom had never had but pressed into him that he should. He’d realized as he got older that way more jobs than office ones actually had those things and Gendry wasn’t made to sit inside for forty hours a week. He needed the fresh air, the variations to his day. 

The majority of the people inside the building didn’t even flinch or look up when he passed their windows. He was outside nearly every other Thursday, weather permitting. His presence no longer startled them and the ones who did notice him barely did more than blink at him. Why would they? To them he was nothing more than a tool, someone doing a job they wouldn’t want themselves. Very few of them probably even saw him as human. 

Gendry was pulled from his annoyed thoughts around the midway point of the building, the nineteenth floor if he had to guess. The office had been empty the last time he had cleaned the windows, not just empty of people but empty of all personality, all the things that made the office look like more than a picture in a magazine. Now though there were items cluttered on the desk and picture frames on the walls. Gendry couldn’t tell what they were because of the sun’s glare. In the middle of the office a slight woman was pacing on the phone and as Gendry began to clean the window he realized with some amusement that she was barefoot. 

As if she sensed his presence she turned to the window and Gendry quickly pulled his attention away to focus on the glass and not the pretty woman behind it. It wouldn’t do him any good to get caught ogling one of the building inhabitants, never mind how long and pretty her hair was. He didn’t need anyone saying anything to Lem about his job that wasn’t a glowing review of praise. 

Movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention and Gendry followed it despite himself, nearly dropping his squeegee in surprise. The woman was waving at him, and not in a ‘hurry up and move on you’re blocking my view’ kind of wave. It was a friendly wave like they were two acquaintances passing each other on the street. Hesitating Gendry rose his free hand and waved back. The woman pointed to the phone at her ear and made and annoyed face and Gendry laughed even though she couldn’t hear him. He couldn’t remember the last time someone behind the glass actually noticed him and treated him like he was anything other than a tool. 

When Gendry finished her window and began to move on she waved at him again. This time Gendry didn’t hesitate before waving back. 

It became a bit of a routine for them. No matter what time Gendry showed up to wash the window the woman was always there, sometimes on the phone, sometimes typing on her computer. Once she was even laying on her back on the floor with papers strew around her. No matter what she was doing two things were always the same: she always waved at him and she was always barefoot. 

The barefoot thing amused Gendry to no end. He didn’t have a thing for feet or anything, he just thought it was funny to see an employee in one of these big fancy buildings looking so relaxed when most of the workers did everything they could to appear polished and perfect at all times. Gendry might not know this woman’s name or have ever spoken a single word to her but he already knew she was different. 

As winter came, he stopped washing the windows as much, the weather keeping them grounded more days than not. He returned to his other job at Thoros’s bike shop and tried to stop himself from thinking about the woman from floor nineteen. He succeeded most days but every now and then the thought of her would come to mind and he would wonder what she was up to, wonder if she had noticed his absence at all. 

She must have because come spring when he returned to the building, she caught sight of him at her window and jumped before a smile stretched across her face. Gendry waved at her with a smile of his own and she stood and Gendry had the crazy thought that she was going to approach the window when her door opened and she was called out into the hall. She gave Gendry one last look and a wave before leaving. 

Two weeks later when Gendry got to her office there was something stuck to the inside of the window. His brow wrinkled as he looked at the blue painter's tape and he had just realized what it was when there was a soft knock on the glass next to him. The woman was standing there beside him and Gendry was startled to realize she was even smaller up close. He probably had a foot on her. 

Smiling she held up a dry erase board for him to read, _Tic tac toe?_

Gendry looked back at the board she’d taped onto the window and nodded, trying to keep his grin off his face. Gendry was a man of many talents and few words so most of his talents remained secret even to those who knew him best. The thing he was best at was very well known in his circle of friends and as such no one ever played with him anymore. They claimed it was no fun because they never got to win but Gendry still tried to pester Hot-Pie into it every now and then. Usually the other man agreed if Gendry would taste test pastries for him. Since that wasn’t exactly a chore Gendry always did it. 

Gendry almost felt bad for the woman behind the glass as he tapped the square he wanted and she drew a big O in it with a dry erase marker. She was trying to do something nice (and it was nice, Gendry’s face hurt from smiling already) and she had no idea how quickly she was about to lose. Gendry had lots of secret talents but the not so secret one that this woman didn’t know was that Gendry had never lost a single game of tic-tac-toe. 

It was a quick game as they always were and she lost gracefully, mimicking giving him a handshake through the glass. Gendry laughed and echoed her motion before getting back to his job and cleaning the glass. He noticed as he left that while the woman wiped off the marker on her window, she left the tape up. 

They started playing a game every time Gendry was outside her office and he wouldn’t say that it was the best part of his weeks but it also wasn’t _not_ the best part. He tried not to notice the way the woman’s brow furrowed as she concentrated where to put her X’s, the way she got progressively more annoyed each time she lost, the fact that she wasn’t wearing a wedding ring. 

It wasn’t like it mattered, a woman that beautiful definitely was dating someone and besides, Gendry didn’t even know her name. Not to mention anyone who worked in those offices (even someone who had taped a tic-tac-toe board to their window) would never want to be caught going on a date with the window washer. 

He wasn’t sure how many games they’d played when the woman held up the dry erase board again. 

_You’re really good at this._

Gendry shrugged and tried to look humble as he bit back a smile. The woman rolled her eyes and laughed before they played and Gendry won yet again. 

Summer came and with it came a heat that made Gendry feel like he was melting. He tried not to look too hopeful as he approached what he now thought of as her floor. Last time he was here she hadn’t been and Gendry found himself worried about her even though it could have been something as simple as she had stepped out to go get lunch. Gendry wouldn’t tell anyone, even if he was asked, but he had definitely lingered at her floor taking his time with cleaning her window before moving on. 

He couldn’t help the exhale of relief when he spotted her and despite the fact that there were several inches of glass between them she looked up as if she had somehow heard him. Smiling they played their game and he was so happy to see her again he was almost distracted enough to lose. He caught himself at the last second and won and she rolled her eyes before she held up her dry erase board again. Gendry’s brow furrowed at the sight of it before he realized what it was. 

_Arya. 802-555-1102_

His eyes flickered back up to hers and Arya bit her lip, looking sheepish. She went to move the board away but Gendry held up a hand to stop her. He stared at the number until he felt it burned into his memory, until he was certain he wouldn’t forget it. He had never finished a building as quickly as he did that day and he doubted he never would. 

Gendry’s feet were barely on the ground before he was digging out his phone and dialing the number he'd been repeating under his breath continuously for the last few hours. 

“This is Arya.” 

Oh, gods her voice was even better than he’d imagined, all clipped vowels and an accent that screamed Northern. He should have known from the Direwolves mug he’d seen on her desk. 

“Hi.” Gendry suddenly found himself at a loss for words and he stumbled as he spoke, “This is, I’m, you just gave me your number and-” 

“What’s your name?” Arya cut off his ramble to ask, her voice clearly amused. 

“Gendry.” At least he was coherent enough to remember that much. 

“Gendry.” Arya repeated softly and fuck if that didn’t make everything in Gendry’s body tighten. “Glad to finally be able to stop calling you the window man.” 

Gendry let out a startled laugh as he admitted, “Glad to stop calling you floor nineteen.” 

Arya laughed and Gendry smiled up at the sky as if he could somehow see her on her floor above him. 

“That’s probably for the best. Especially since I’m on floor eighteen.”


End file.
